TINY TITANS

An introduction to the ocean food web’s most essential component.

Set against black backgrounds, vivid microphotos of the (mostly) small but intricately constructed plants and animals making up the “sea soup” that keeps Earth’s oceans and atmosphere healthy provide riveting visuals for Cerullo’s breezy, richly factual survey. First the author examines the major types of phytoplankton (plant) “superheroes,” both the beneficial sort and the “antiheroes” responsible for calamities from red tides to shellfish poisoning—ranging from dinoflagellates (“phytoplankton with attitude,” or at least maneuverability, unlike free-floating diatoms) to the even smaller “alternative universe” of nanoplankton and picoplankton. Following equally close looks at zooplankton, from copepods and krill to salps and jellyfish, she expands on the central roles plankton play as the “food basket of the sea” and our planet’s “lungs.” Cerullo also considers current threats posed by plastics pollution and warming oceans. Closing with suggestions for greener behavior (bike or walk rather than take car rides, rely on reusable bags while shopping, stick to natural fibers instead of clothing that sheds microplastic fibers), she urges young readers tantalized by this overview to “Do STEM!” “What is there left to learn? Almost everything.”

Enticing and informative.